


Family Contract

by Genuka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Bunny Farm Escapee, Goblins, Good Malfoy Family, M/M, Potter Luck, Rating May Change, Sub Severus Snape, Tags May Change, Top Harry Potter, Work In Progress, may you live in interesting times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-02-01 21:28:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12713307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuka/pseuds/Genuka
Summary: What if Voldemort discovered that there was a marriage contract between him and the Potters? What if Dumbledore was trying to nullify it in favor of a new contract between Harry and Ginny? What if he decided that the contract was strange for even existing and potentially valid? What lengths do you think he would go to to know the truth?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~http://archiveofourown.org/works/9694889/chapters/28724588Adopted prompt from Elvirakitties, Plot Bunnies Ch 57Prompt in opening notes.





	1. Messenger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wolfmistress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfmistress/gifts), [elvirakitties](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/gifts), [Blue4dogs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue4dogs/gifts), [Nightshade_sydneylover150](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightshade_sydneylover150/gifts), [ThePhoenixandTheDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePhoenixandTheDragon/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Plot Bunnies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9694889) by [elvirakitties](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/pseuds/elvirakitties). 



> http://archiveofourown.org/works/9694889/chapters/28724588  
> Adopted from Elvirakitties, Plot Bunnies Ch 57
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~  
>  **Prompt/Bunny:**
> 
> "No."
> 
> "You can't say no. You have no option." Voldemort slammed the marriage contract down in front of Harry Potter.
> 
> "I do. It says in there that it was for my father, signed by his father. According to that contract, it's for James Potter only, no mention of anyone else filling it in on the Potter side. Your grandfather signed it, clearly for the money. It says you will be taking the Potter name, taking the submissive title. Which explains so much about the conflict between you, my father, and Dumbledore. Dumbledore married him off to Lily before he even knew about that contract." Harry pulled out the marriage agreement between his parents. "Notice, my grandparents didn't sign but Dumbledore did. He used his power as Chief Warlock and the Headmaster."
> 
> Voldemort snatched the contract up. He started to read it. At his first frown, Harry knew what he read. "I see you got to the part about Dumbledore controlling the Potter seats until his heir was old enough to take control."
> 
> Voldemort looked up. "Yes, and it doesn't make any sense. Neither does the part about your father not taking his titles."
> 
> "He died before his father, so Dumbledore messed up on that aspect, as I got the titles directly, which prevented him from emptying my vaults." Harry showed him the bank records. "As you can see he tried the very next day to get into my vaults."
> 
> Voldemort looked down at the bank statement but returned to reading the contract. "There are a few odd things in here that aren't part of a regular marriage contract. Lucius could read it and tell us exactly what laws he might have used, but I have never heard of limiting a couple to one child. He even has in here when you can be born."
> 
> Harry waited and watched the man reread that paragraph. He felt the anger building. "Can you not do that? He has us connected somehow." Harry rubbed his forehead.
> 
> Voldemort slammed down his anger, not something he was used to doing, but he had agreed to a truce to discuss their situation. A situation he didn't know existed until Severus mentioned Dumbledore mumbling about how to get rid of a marriage contract. Voldemort realizing that Dumbledore didn't want Harry married to whomever it was for had Lucius search the Ministry for the Potter marriage contract. He was a bit surprised to find one signed by Dumbledore, along with their grandfathers. He flipped to the last page. "Harry, we have a bigger issue."
> 
> "Noticed the date?" Harry had found out about the contract when Ironclaw wrote to him, warning him that Dumbledore was trying to create a marriage contract between him and Ginny Weasley while voiding one for James Potter and Tom Riddle.
> 
> "Yes, it's dated a week before my eleventh birthday, even before I knew I was a wizard. Your father wasn't even born. I know from the family history of the Potter's that they were the same age as my grandparents. James was considered a miracle to them. "
> 
> "Which explains why he was such a jackass."
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~  
> 

Voldemort scowled as yet another owl spelled only to go to Potter remained on his desk, the owl refusing to deliver it thus proving that it wouldn't get through. The more generic ones without such heavy secrecy spell work had all left and been bounced by the mail re-direct ward. Normally this latest modification to the spell protections on the letter would have gotten through just such a redirect ward. The fact that it didn't work meant that he would have to use even older methods if he was going to get the meeting he needed for the answers he had to have. Damn his grandfather to hell and back for this mess!

After the mess with this Gaunt-Potter marriage contract was sorted out, something he had been warned about by Severus, he would have to see what else he was missing. The remainder of the meeting would need to be used to discuss the supposed Prophecy and the control that Potter was obviously under by the old coot. Ruby eyes gleamed at the thought of possibly getting Potter onside, or at least neutral. He also wanted a word about some of the mental bleed through he had been receiving since the firm confirmation of their joint mind link in the minor Ministry confrontation.

Severus would just have to play messenger _after_ they had a little _talk_. A quick summons and three hours later the Potions Master understood that he had one chance to get this right to avoid the death of a traitor. He would be gifted to Potter as a go-between and bodyguard as a gesture of good faith with the request that he did his best to maintain his place as a spy until Potter graduated. As a part of the transfer and binding Severus would relive Potter's memories to help him understand his new master.

Upon arriving back at the school he wasted no time in summoning his godson and sending one of the Slytherin Prefects to fetch Potter. The presentation _had_ to be done right and he wasn't certain that Potter had been schooled in the proper procedure to keep the magic from backfiring on them.

"Professor?" Draco asked in puzzlement once they were in the man's office.

"I need you to walk Potter through the ritual to receive a messenger and acceptance of a message from an enemy house with gift. The Dark Lord ordered this and I would rather not be punished repeatedly as he stumbles through the acceptance," Severus said quietly. His lack of official emotionless mask told Draco they were talking as family rather than teacher and student.

"Are you the gift?" Draco asked, pale. It wasn't an uncommon tactic at the time the method was used if only to ensure private communication between lords or slip a spy into the other household.

"Yes," Severus said simply.

"I will use this opportunity to offer an end to our rivalry. I may have already lost mother and father and I don't also wish to loose you," Draco said firmly, drawing deeply on his pureblood upbringing to stay composed.

"Both are still alive but I understand your concern. As a last task before delivering myself and the message to Potter I am to inform you that your task has changed. You are to free Potter in so much as he either goes neutral or joins the dark if possible. I am also to warn you that because your mother and aunt forced me to make an Unbreakable Vow to aid you in your task failure will not only kill me but you will be required to take my place. If you can convince your mother and aunt to end the vow the punishment for it in the first place will be less," Severus informed his godson with a deep sigh of regret.

"They did _what?_ " Draco whispered in pale shock.

"You are not being blamed for their actions. You were expected to fail your original task as it was meant as a lesson so that you understood what you were getting into as well as a punishment for your father's mess at the ministry last year. The Dark Lord has finally become more stable now that he is taking steps to address an outstanding magical contract that was until recently impossible to fulfill. The task was changed to keep it from killing me in case Narcissa and Bellatrix refuse to release me from the vow. The Dark Lord was... displeased to discover the three of us had risked my inside position by making the vow," Severus explained quietly.

"I'll try," Draco promised firmly.

"That is all I can ask for," Severus sighed just before Harry arrived, escorted by the 7th year Slytherin Prefect, who was promptly dismissed.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Harry asked warily.

"May I?" Draco asked, wanting to go first. Severus nodded his consent and retrieved the official message wrapped in green and silver ribbon bearing the seal of the Gaunt family pressed in the wax from his desk drawer.

"Potter, I wish to offer a truce between us. Will you accept?" Draco offered quietly, once more holding out his hand as if they were again heading to Hogwarts as first years.

"On the condition you tell me what the hell you've been doing all year and that you stop sabotaging my potions," Harry said firmly.

"I have been trying to do something that the Dark Lord ordered. My orders have changed and it was apparently meant for me to fail the other one in the first place as a lesson. It was in two parts, kill Dumbledore and get a raiding party into the school. My new task is to help you with whatever Uncle Severus brought for you. I have to help you through the official presentation before we know anything else," Draco answered honestly, his head held high. "I am willing to show you what I was doing to get them past the wards and help you destroy it as a show of good faith."

"What happens if I screw up the presentation?" Harry asked warily.

"Uncle Severus will be punished and have to try again," Draco answered honestly.

"You have your truce and I appreciate the help with the presentation thing," Harry informed him with a sharp sigh. The two young men nodded to each other and turned to face the Potions Master.

Severus moved around the desk, official parchment in hand and knelt in front of Lily's son. Harry was shocked into immobility long enough for the older man to start reciting.

"Harry Potter, Heir of House Potter, I come to you as a messenger from House Gaunt. Will you hear the message?" Severus' rich voice intoned formally.

"Say yes," Draco urged quietly.

"Er, I... Yes?" Harry stammered. In response Severus handed over the parchment and braced himself to re-live Potter's life.

Harry cautiously accepted the sealed parchment and opened it at Draco's urging. The message outlined the request for a temporary truce and a meeting to discuss matters with a promise of safe passage. It outlined the gifting of Severus as a gesture of good will. A single word would signal acceptance of the gift which would trigger the memory transfer.

"I am obviously missing something here," Harry started only to notice Draco tensing and looking at Snape with worry, only to hastily change what he was going to say. "Not that I am rejecting anything. I just need some clarification before I can answer."

Draco relaxed marginally before explaining. "I would need you to read me the message but from what Uncle Severus told me of my own new task something happened to make the Dark Lord need to talk to you really badly. I think he is trying to get out of having to fight you but I don't actually know. He might be angling for an actual truce or he might be looking for a proper alliance or even just trying to figure out if someone tricked him into going after you and your parents. What I do know is that giving you Uncle Severus means its serious and he won't risk breaking any offer of safe passage he probably gave you."

"I accept, _~truce~_ ," Harry said quietly, accepting both the gift and the message in the spirit in which they were given. The parseltongue word triggered the memory transfer and the only thing that kept Severus from collapsing under the onslaught with a choked gasp was the fact that he was already kneeling. Draco gently stopped him from interrupting the memory transfer as they watched Snape focus through the pain of the process.

"You are never going back to those _blasted_ muggles again!" were the first words out of Severus' mouth after the transfer ended.

"Uncle Sev?" Draco asked cautiously.

"Go get your message journal Draco. I need a word with Harry and the journal will give us a faster way to talk to your father," Severus ordered. Draco uncertainly obeyed.

Professor?" Harry asked softly.

"Severus," the man corrected with a sigh as he stood but failed to retake his normal seat behind the desk. Severus instead chose to stand at attention with his hands clasped behind his back before his newest master. "I am now your bodyguard, servant, and go-between Mr. Potter. Whatever else may happen and whatever has happened in the past you may now count on me as one of your allies. I rather hope that one day your appallingly Gryffindor habits will allow us to actually become friends but I know my own actions may have forever put that option out of reach. I ask that you do not use serious blackmail against me if at all possible nor demand that I call you master. It is your right in any case but I have... poor memories of such instances. I also ask that should you need to punish me in the future that you not use a belt or the crucio spell, again poor memories. I do not wish to over react and accidentally harm you if I cannot hold my own reflexes."

"The trigger really gave you copies of my memories?" Harry asked in dread, ignoring the little speech he had just been given for the moment.

"Yes," Severus admitted, swallowing bile at the reminder of the contents of those memories. "Now that I am aware of the other circumstances involved in most of our past interactions I feel I must apologize and submit myself for discipline. Even just as your teacher I should have recognized there was something wrong and helped you. I allowed my past to blind me and I am truly ashamed of my actions."

" _All_ of my memories?" Harry persisted. His eyes held not only the weight of painful knowledge but also power that would frighten even Albus Dumbledore.

"All of your memories," Severus agreed quietly, well aware of what was bothering his new master. "To be frank while the full knowledge of your yearly adventures terrified me and the knowledge of your home life enraged me, your... experiments relieved me. It showed that you weren't Dumbledore's puppet nor are you a fanatical defender of his policies. Although the fact you out argued the hat to go into Gryffindor over Slytherin and subverted several of your classmates, including the _Weasley twins_ , was a bit of a shock."

"Potions?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"We will need to get you the beginner books and basically start over. How you managed an E on your O.W.L. I will never know. After drilling you in certain things you never learned or never learned properly we can likely bring you back up to your year level _provided_ you don't hide anymore. We will need a public excuse for my change in attitude towards you, presuming you don't want my new position public knowledge immediately. I presume from your memories that as long as you are safe and _not_ at the Dursleys over the summer you don't really care where you reside?" Severus asked cautiously. He was very firmly ignoring exactly how sore he was from the memory dump and the echoes of pain that came from the remembered trauma that Harry had already needed to live through for years.

"A lost bet usually works pretty well and yeah, I don't care for the Dursleys. Umbridge?" Harry asked, becoming more comfortable with this less abrasive version of the Potions Master as they talked civilly. Though it really did help that he didn't actually have to spell anything out for the other wizard.

"Lucius. Frankly, no matter the consequences after finding out about the quill she needs to be dealt with. She has put you all at risk and earned either a Dementor's Kiss from the Wizengamot or being torn apart by enraged parents. Her actions are unacceptable," Severus said darkly just as Draco returned with his message journal.

"What did I miss?" Draco asked with open curiosity as he dashed into the room and handed over his message journal.

"Plotting how to explain my changed attitude to the school and Dumbledore," Severus answered absently as he took the never out quill that came with the journal and dashed off a quick message to Lucius Malfoy. The quick reply had him smirking and returning the journal to his godson.

"I think we should go with a lost bet but what the bet was is still up for debate if we even go with a bet," Harry explained, unconsciously drawing the blond's attention to how much more relaxed he was now compared to when he had first arrived. "Nothing has been decided except that I accepted the truce to sort out stuff with the Dark Lord and that Professor Snape is mine now, like you said would happen."

"I just requested Lucius come to Hogwarts immediately to help with certain outstanding issues. Issues such as the fact that Umbridge was apparently forcing your classmates to use a _blood quill_ during her detentions last year," Severus growled in obvious displeasure at the woman.

Draco gasped in shock before backing away from Harry and starting to babble. " I swear! I didn't know! I was just trying to get your attention! I didn't actually want you _tortured_!"

"Well... that's something at least. We're pretty sure she would have found a way to do it anyway and aren't we trying a personal truce in any case?" Harry offered, not really sure why Draco was panicking. He was more upset with the pink bitch over the _firsties_ having to use the blood quill. Draco had just been his mostly normal annoying superior self last year and the had gotten him good a couple of times in retaliation already.

Draco nodded frantically and breathed a sigh of relief when Harry dropped it, returning to his discussion about the fake bet.

"So I was thinking a bet either with the twins or with Draco? Maybe that I could sneak into the lab after curfew and brew a potion from next year before leaving it in your office as proof and you were impressed? Or I made a bet with you about something? Maybe get you an ingredient that you can't normally get? Something from a Basilisk or other snake? Or I traded showing you the Chamber of Secrets for something and it impressed you?" Harry brainstormed.

"Perhaps we got into an argument and I accused you of not actually knowing where the Chamber was so we made a bet that if you could show it to me I would reduce my name calling and baiting you into snapping at me? Sadly the harassment that usually results in you getting extra detentions is actually a form of sneaky protection so that has to stay. At least with you aware you can do homework or read and dash over to sudsy cauldrons if anyone comes or pretend to be re-copying things out of a book for your detention. Incidentally, giving me cheek will be better for getting a detention should you need it rather than a potions mishap or sabotage," Severus pointed out.

"But you've never been to Salazar's Chamber?" Draco pointed out tentatively, trying to help.

"But I have Mr. Potter's memories of the Chamber... we really need to harvest that Basilisk at some point. The ingredients will be worth a fortune per half a foot of the beast. It will also allow us to set up an emergency fund separate from anything else you might own in case someone else gains or has control of your vaults," Severus pondered thoughtfully.

"Vaults? As in plural?" Harry asked in shock, eyes wide.

"Yes, Mr Potter, _vaults_ ," Lucius drawled as he stepped into the room, having flooed into Severus's quarters and walked to the man's office moments before. "I take it something is more amiss than we knew with Mr. Potter's situation judging by his question."

Severus snorted in a mix of derision and disgust at what was now blatantly obvious to him.

"Father I don't think he knows about his family," Draco answered for the other two, glancing worriedly over at his former rival. "The memory transfer hurt Uncle Severus bad enough that he looked like he was under a crucio. The first thing that he said when he came out of it was that Harry wasn't going back to his relatives, ever, then he sent me for my message journal."

"He wasn't taught a damn thing except the basics of muggle school and how to act as a general house elf who is under regular punishment for no reason," Severus practically exploded. "Lucius, _'Tuny_ had him and they _**starved**_ him nearly to _**DEATH**_! On a regular basis no less! Without magic as strong as the Dark Lord's he wouldn't have lasted the _first year_ in their poor excuse for care. His book list and other wizarding learning materials were either sabotaged, left off the list, or simply not taught to him. He has _less_ knowledge about our world than a new muggleborn student who barely glanced through the orientation materials."

The mouths of both blonds dropped open in horrified shock as Harry stood off to one side uncomfortably looking at the floating preserved ingredients that Snape kept on the shelves in his office.

"He has absolutely no idea what he has done," Lucius whispered in horrified shock.

"Potter?" Draco asked his father, mouth dry.

"And Dumbledore. This... changes _everything_ ," Lucius breathed.

"It changes nothing," Severus countered continuing over the beginning objections of both Malfoys and Harry's sharp look. "Without documentation they will simply say he failed whatever test he is given on purpose. He needs to see the goblins. They are a neutral power and if his accounts have also been tampered with they will already be angry enough at the thieves to help more than usual."

"His education will still need correcting and I noticed you said nothing about Heir or Lordship training. Must I presume that he had nothing there either?" Lucius pointed out.

"Yes," Severus agreed curtly. "With Mr. Potter's permission I recommend having the Dark Lord present for our business with the goblins, the documentation, and deciding what needs to be rectified first. If we are lucky they can also use the meeting to sort out whatever the Dark Lord wanted to discuss so urgently."

"And how exactly are we going to manage that with me being basically under 24 hour guard?" Harry asked sardonically.

"The DA," Severus answered simply.

"Why in hell would I drag them into this?!" Harry demanded, eyes narrowed in anger.

"His defense club from last year? ... that could work," Draco nodded thoughtfully, eyes watching Harry in gleeful calculation. "If I insult the group as a whole... make it a challenge to his skill as a teacher..."

"Their O.W.L.s speak for themselves," Harry cut him off sharply.

"We can tell the twins, Longbottom, and Lovegood what we are actually doing," Severus pointed out. Harry glowered in response, still not liking the idea.

"The idea is that I challenge your club into getting you to Gringotts for an inheritance test, something you should have already had anyway. It would be an open challenge in front of the teachers so no one can say they didn't know what was going on. It will be harder to stop it if someone is playing puppet master with everything you were supposed to have learned already," Draco pointed out reasonably.

"The suspected traitors can suddenly find themselves in detention or banned from helping. I would be designated as the person to certify success or failure on behalf of the school and staff so that I could be there at the bank and return with you openly. It would also allow us, should we choose to do so, to leak or flat out announce your results. Such would make it impossible for anyone to deny you your heritage as is being done now," Severus pointed out.

"Considering someone is using your Wizengamot seats. The very seats that are trying to force laws through about you being restricted to Hogwarts or the muggle's residence without a permanent escort. An escort with the authority to order you to kill and force you to do so. Not that the wording of the supposed law is that obvious but its dreadfully obvious when one reads between the lines. It is especially true in conjuncture with the companion law that will legally list anyone with the Dark Mark as _rabid cattle_ ," Lucius explained with tightly controlled anger.

"Not only was I unaware that I had a voice in the Wizengamot but I _did not_ authorize any of that," Harry spat darkly, mirroring Lucius' anger.

"Of course you didn't but your magical guardian might have," Draco pointed out reasonably.

"He is unaware of any guardian but his muggle relatives. I don't want to speculate on if he even has one to avoid prejudicing any tests on guardianship the goblins might have him take. I am hardly familiar with their procedures except when it comes to commissioned potions," Severus pointed out carefully.

"Fair enough. As to getting me to the bank... _if_ Draco can talk the twins into helping I'll allow it but I have to be openly against it to keep Dumbledore off me. Getting the rest of the Slytherins involved or making it so that at least half the school, preferably those raised muggle, join me in getting tested would add to it. I might even offer up a forfeit for managing to get every last teacher and student tested, barring Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Trelawny. Of course I'd let everyone who had an inheritance test already get away with presenting a copy of that older one but a new one is better," Harry smirked. His sly refinements had the other three looking at him in surprise.

"That is an excellent idea! As a gesture of good will on behalf of House Malfoy to House Potter House Malfoy offers to pay for a basic health exam and an inheritance test at Gringotts for every student 5th year and above," Lucius offered with a smirk.

"No hard feeling about Dobby? You practically gave him to me with his dangerous stalking in second year after all," Harry inquired curiously.

Lucius failed to stop a bark of laughter that sounded like low tone bells as his friend smirked at him knowingly and his son stared in shock.

"No, no hard feelings. Though you might want to bind him to you properly now that you've admitted that you knew he was a gift," Lucius pointed out as he forced his chuckles into submission so that only a smirk remained.

"Why is he so... erratic?" Harry asked carefully.

"He needs to be treated as a good worker when he does things well rather than as an equal. They are actually closer to being brownies like the elves in the old muggle story about the shoe maker. The situation is symbiotic and the reason he is getting worse right now is because he isn't grounded by a link to a wizard or a magical family. The magical bond helps regulate the magic so that their lives don't simply pour out of them like water. Working is important to them, almost to the point of being a religion for them," Severus explained, knowing exactly where Harry was coming from. "The kick Lucius gave him was more play acting than a real kick, especially with how extra durable house elves are because of how their magic is."

"Ah... that makes a lot more sense," Harry said nodding in understanding. "Dobby!"

Dobby happily popped in and before he could start praising Harry he noticed the Malfoys. In keeping with his role of rescued house elf he pretended to be somewhat cowed by their presence.

"Now to bind him to you properly Dobby first needs to know that you were treated as a traitor house elf ever since you were smaller than an elfling. He also needs to know that we still don't know who arranged for that and that you don't know how to be a wizard master to an elf because you are still learning to be a regular wizard like a first year already knows. Once he understands this he or you will try to feel the other with just your magic and let the two magics just look at each other. It will happen quickly after that as the magic often has more say than the elf or the wizard. Dobby will receive the same memory transfer that I did," Severus instructed, aiming half his words at Dobby.

Dobby was shocked at the meaning behind the Potion Master's words and it just increased the little elf's resolve to bond with his Mister Harry Potter sir. Their magics practically leapt at each other, trying to look closely at the other and causing the bond to form spontaneously.

"Dobby has an old coot and some muggles to kill," Dobby said angrily after processing the memories without the backlash Severus had needed to suffer through. He caught his tired master before Harry could stumble and levitated him into Severus' arms. Nodding approvingly he returned to the kitchens with plans to corner both Kreacher and Winky and speak to them about a _proper_ elf bonding with his master. He would leave his non-elf targets alone for now because he knew that Harry didn't want him actually committing murder just yet on his behalf. On the other hand making Dumbledore and the DA traitors very uncomfortable was well within his rights as Harry's elf.

"A nap, I think, then we can join dinner," Severus said thoughtfully even as Harry dropped off in his arms.


	2. The Challenge and the Chase

Severus made sure the four wizards made it to supper. He was looking forwards to the public part of the challenge since they had already agreed that the argument and bet over the Basilisk happened during Harry's last detention. Publicly arguing over harvesting the Basilisk would be the back up plan for getting Harry to Gringotts if Draco failed to rouse the DA at supper. Once Harry had been quoted the price of a few drops of Basilisk venom there was no argument over the need to harvest anything that was left of the corpse. Harry's primary objection had been the additional fame it would bring him. It was understood almost immediately that the resources harvesting it would give him out weighed the increase in notoriety. It helped that Severus promised to act as his agent and try to keep his name out of the papers.

Neither man would admit it but even before the memory transfer they had watched each other. Severus now knew that Harry had accepted him as a servant for a mix of reasons. The Potion Master's skills were a large factor as were the bonuses that Voldemort had listed. The final thing that convinced the sixth year was Harry's secret crush on the dour man who he thought hated him with an undying passion.

Severus, on the other hand hadn't actually been tortured into taking the position, though it might have appeared that way to the uninformed. Once he had understood what the Dark Lord had decided and that Potter flat out wouldn't understand what was going on he saw it as the perfect opportunity. In convincing the Dark Lord to send him as the gift. It enabled him to save Draco and keep both of his unbreakable vows from killing him. Originally the man was going to offer up Pettigrew or one time he and his people would leave peacefully without doing whatever had been planned or something else of the like.

Severus had to point out very carefully that Potter was likely being fed a bunch of lies and wouldn't understand the gesture. While revealing his two unbreakable vows had resulted in painful punishment the reasons had been deemed acceptable. After all both knew that Dumbledore wasn't a fool and the Dark Lord had never inquired what price Severus had to pay for his supposed attempt at redemption. The old fool was well known to only give a Slytherin even the most meager chance at redemption if the penitent payed through the nose. On the other had he openly gave Gryffindors practically a free pass. The fact that Severus had arranged it so that he would be allowed to act as an open spy for both sides because of Dumbledore's assurance via the vow had saved both his life and his position. The vow for protecting Draco was simpler to explain. Narcissa and Bellatrix were going to kill him as a spy and Wormtail had been there for his memories, scant as they were, to back it up.

The only downside was that if Potter didn't work out his differences with the Dark Lord and at least come to some sort of understanding his position was now exposed. The upside was there were legal protections he could now claim. There was also the fact that Harry's age was reason enough for him not to have stepped forwards before now. Dealing with the abuse Harry had suffered was going to be a nightmare. The messenger aspect and the fact that until Harry had come to Hogwarts literally only Dumbledore and a few others in his pocket, not including Severus, knew where he was would help them. It would keep Severus from being blamed for not fixing it sooner. Severus would be honestly able to tell them that he had no actual knowledge until he was accepted as Harry's.

The start of supper and the appearance of food brought Severus abruptly back to the present and made him wonder when Draco would start his end of the matter. Even if his fictional bet came up before Draco's challenge to Harry's defense group came up it still promised to be an interesting floor show. As a bonus is was also bound to force many of his students to _think_ critically, something that was always lacking in teenagers.

"So Potter are you going to overthrow my godfather like you did the pink bitch from last year? Run another illegal defense group and train them up like perfect little soldiers for your perfect little army? But then with _you_ teaching them I doubt they learned all that much. Maybe we should let you keep teaching the fools, it will get them killed that much faster!" Draco taunted with a mean laugh that Lucius, Harry, and Severus could tell was forced.

The angry grumble from most of the DA members was exactly what they had been aiming for. Working with the building momentum Draco arrogantly stood up an swaggered towards the Gryffindor table only to stop half way between the tables. This, conveniently, placed him near the doors to the room and in somewhat easy view of the rest of the room.

"Don't like what I'm saying about your precious scarred teacher? Then prove me wrong! If you can get him and as many of your stupid club to Gringotts to take an inheritance test I'll apologize and pay for _one_ thing from Diagon Alley for every member as long as it isn't worth more than 10 galleons each!" Draco declared arrogantly.

"It will come out of your own vault and allowance Dragon," Lucius called out pointedly.

"Yes father, but I don't intend to lose!" Draco called back.

"They don't need to prove anything to you Malfoy. Their O.W.L.s speak for themselves. Go play with your over priced chess set," Harry shot back.

"Potter, I saw you looking at Potions that require Basilisk parts like either you or Weasley could pay for Basilisk parts. Are you also going to try to blow us all up by experimenting with dangerous and rare ingredients?" Draco snarked in response.

"Who said I needed to buy parts? I could just want to harvest my kill from second year. Its not like I would need the whole thing with how big it was and maybe giving some to Professor Snape will give us a week or two with him in a _really_ good mood." Harry shot back with a bit of a growl.

"Considering you used it to get Professor Snape to promise to be nicer to you it might work," Draco conceded. "I know he wants some of it for one of his healing experiments since he's been muttering about it for a couple of months."

"Draco," Severus growled out in warning. Telling Potter that was _not_ part of the plan they had agreed on.

"Terms Ferret?!" the Weasley twins demanded finally jumping up in outrage and speaking for the indignantly grumbling DA as a whole.

"Guys, sit down, its not worth it," Harry scolded halfheartedly.

"It is more than worth whatever points we loose!" little Colin Creevy declared bravely. The general angry murmur of assent made Harry wonder exactly how loyal his defense group had become without him noticing. The prize was a nice touch but he didn't think is was as large of a factor and was probably more to throw the teachers off.

"Pothead has to be there even if you have to drag him or no dice," Draco said confidently. "You also have to get him to have an inheritance test and get him checked to see if he is being controlled even if he can throw off the bloody imperious curse. You also have to do it by the end of the week or the reward is cut in half. You can sacrifice another 2 galleons from everyone's reward to extend the time limit until the end of the year but once they start giving us end of the year tests I win by default. _My_ reward is that each member bows to me and apologizes for giving me so much trouble last year. Oh and you each will owe me a favor but Pothead will owe me _three_. You reject these terms and I get to curse Pothead for twenty minutes without anyone interfering. I will at least promise not to use anything that might kill him."

"Touch Harry and you will regret it Little Malfoy," the twins chorused in an ugly tone with shouts of agreement from the rest of the DA.

"Anyone who participates in this attempt will be summarily suspended or possibly _expelled_!" Dumbledore thundered, rising from his chair like an angry titan.

"Except that unless they are putting themselves or their classmates at active risk of severe injury or death you can't. I didn't believe my son when he told me you would go out of your way to keep them from learning their heritage. Which is why I was waiting until after supper to inform you of the treat for the students. He also said that you would try to keep them from discovering if they had any wizarding relatives. Well this little trip just became sponsored. Draco made a bet with me on the matter and now I have to pay for Health exams and Inheritance testing at the bank for everyone 5th year and up. I will up the ante based on your rather poor reaction and promise to cover the basic testing of any student that arrives with Mr. Potter. I won't pay a single knut without Mr. Potter there because Draco pointed out to me that he is always in rags. I want to know _why_ when his father was a Lord," Lucius countered with his own voice thundering across the room.

Harry sighed and banged his head a couple of times on the table in front of him. He hadn't realized that Draco or anyone else had noticed his worn clothing, after all no one ever said anything about it. Admittedly, the Dursleys never cared about what _he_ looked like as long as _they_ were seen as _perfectly normal_. This was going to spark questions he _really_ didn't want to try answering. He was so going to get the prat back for this.

"Its a muggle fashion thing. They sell baggy clothes and ripped pants. I hear its all the rage for muggle students," Dumbledore dismissed the clothing comment very firmly. Harry just smacked his head against the table again and started plotting pranks against Dumbledore in earnest.

"Not to the point of being rags, Albus. Before you start comparing him to his father _again_ and trying to manipulate us into seeing James I feel compelled to point out that _Harry isn't James_. The young man proved that to me just earlier today and I can honestly say I will never again see him as his bully of a father. Though it is a pity that such a revelation removes so many baiting options and the bet about the blasted Basilisk removed still more. Then again you didn't exactly give the staff much when you informed us about Mr. Potter's yearly escapades," Severus snarked.

"Alright, _enough_. The idea is over and dropped," Harry ordered the room flatly, knowing that he was just adding fuel to the fire and his denial would make the twins _think_ about _why_ he was saying no. "I have homework to finish and everyone has a Potions test to get ready for. I'm off."

Harry stalked from supper, leaving behind a confused school. Half way down the hall outside the great hall he just barely heard something that made him shiver and bolt for a hiding spot.

"Anyone who succeeds in getting themselves and Potter to the bank by Monday will receive at least an Acceptable on their test even if they don't answer a single question or may request a pass on a single assignment. Making the attempt rather than actually succeeding will receive 10 points per person involved to their house," Severus drawled evilly, setting off a hunting roar from the school body.

What followed was the weirdest version of Harry Hunting that Harry had ever experienced. Within the first half hour he was flushed from his first hastily chosen hiding place behind a set of armor on the second floor. He had originally been heading for Myrtle's bathroom and the Chamber of Secrets. The noisy approach of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team put paid to _that_ idea and had him diving for the nearest alcove. Two hours after the hunt began the Weasley twins finally ran him to ground.

"You never told me why the two of you were at the school. You _did_ graduate last year," Harry mentioned casually, trying to distract them enough to manage to escape.

"We were talking to some of the Professors about new prank projects that they might help on," Fred explained easily.

"When old McGonagall offered us rooms in trade for not handing out pranks we agreed," George said wickedly.

"As much as we know you need this we still checked with old Lucy boy and Snape," Fred pointed out feigning innocence. "After all we didn't want our contribution to disqualify the whole thing."

"They promised that because we belonged to you that they would count us as seventh years for this little hunt," George snicked just as he managed to hit Harry with a binding spell. His twin caught the now glaring brunette before he hit the floor.

"Don't worry Harry, Luna and Draco told us what's going on," Fred offered sympathetically.

"The seventh years are keeping the staff busy while the rest of us keep everyone else safe as we escape to Gringotts," George told him.

"Night, night!" they chorused just before hitting him with a double stunner.


	3. The Contract

Harry woke slowly to what sounded like a very odd argument. From the voices alone he could identify Voldemort, Snape, the Malfoy males, Bellatrix Lestrange, the Weasley twins, and another women who was being called Narcissa. It was very odd indeed, there was no bite to anyone's voice except Bellatrix.

" _Bellatrix_ , the only reason you and your sister are here is that you both forced Severus into an Unbreakable Vow without considering the consequences. I promise you that if young Draco fails his revised task it will be the two of you who pay for the loss of Severus and take young Malfoy's punishment. That is presuming that the magics simply don't take Draco's life as payment. You risked a major asset, Severus, to try and keep him from being taught about what exactly it means to be one of my marked. To be marked is to become a type of soldier, to be able to follow orders that would make most people want to slit their own _throats!_ There is a time limit before I can revoke the mark and a different limit for removing it completely! The lesson was for your entire family and while young Draco hasn't yet failed you nearly got him _killed_ along with the rest of your family with your interference. The magic would have demanded a blood payment that I couldn't stop," Voldemort snapped at the group that owed him loyalty. "As it stands only Severus' suggestion and Potter's actions may be able to salvage this _mess_."

"But baby Potter..." Bellatrix started to protest only to be cut off.

"Is in _neutral territory_ and had to avoid suspicion when meeting me to sort out the truth of a matter that may force us to _wed!_ If we can't figure this out peacefully then he will be my _husband_. Get out of my sight! Your actions have already cost us dearly. I don't want to see you unless I call for you. Narcissa, stay, you will witness the results of your foolish actions alongside your husband. If Potter demands your son be given to him as a slave I'm currently inclined to grant the request," Voldemort snarled at them.

Harry heard Bellatrix leave, clearly subdued by the ass chewing she had received.

"Would my lord allow me to release the Vow?" Narcissa asked, her voice trembling.

"I'm tempted to say no simply to force you to watch what your unthinking actions have caused for both the man you call friend and for your son," Voldemort said cruelly before relenting. "You may but it won't change the punishment I must give to both you and your sister in front of everyone during the next meeting. It _will_ , however, make it safer for Draco should he fail or come close to failing his revised task. The twin menaces will stand as witness even as they keep guarding Potter so jealously that it makes my head ache."

"You've tried killing him in the past, repeatedly," Fred said stubbornly, his voice brooking no argument.

"We understand that our brother Percy is yours, the prat, but _we_ side with Harry. Not Dumbledore but _Harry_ ," George said, equally stubbornly. "I know Charlie and Bill stand with Harry too but I think Ronnikins stands with Dumbledore."

"I know mum and Ginny stand with Dumbledore. I'm not sure if dad is Harry's or Dumbledore's but we think he's under potions anyway so his choice isn't really a choice," Fred said pointedly.

"Fred? George?" Harry asked groggily. He felt a potion vial pressed to his lips. Only the distinctive scent of the Potions Master and the feel of his long strong hands kept him from trying to fight free but instead swallowing the potion without resistance.

"This is going to be a _long_ day," Severus breathed in his ear in warning.

Harry made a quiet sound of assent as he forced his eyes open even as he forced his body upright to he could look around at the room. It looked like a basic conference room with a cot, which he was laying on, shoved in one corner. The twins were standing to either side as if they were his bodyguards. Severus was kneeling next to his cot still from giving him the pepper up and in the process of pocketing the now empty vial. The Malfoys stood near the table with Voldemort still glowering at them a bit.

"Lets get Snape released from the vow and give the potion a chance to work before we start in on whatever you needed to see me about?" Harry suggested tiredly. Voldemort nodded tersely in agreement and gestured to the blond woman to proceed.

Narcissa stepped forwards and cleared her throat before speaking formally. "Severus Snape, new information has come to my attention ending the need for the Vow you swore to me. In the presence of witnesses I release you from your vow to complete my son's task should he fail."

"We stand as witness," the twins chorused solemnly.

Severus hissed quietly at the burn of the magic wrap around his arm glowed briefly before it visibly unraveled and faded away to nothing. He quickly moved to his feet, helping Harry as everyone moved to sit at the conference table. The Malfoys and Voldemort sat on one side while Harry, the twins and Snape sat on the other side. A goblin mediator, unnoticed until now, took the head of the table and dropped the glamour that hid the guards at each corner of the room, officially marking the mediation as begun.

"Can I see the contract you mentioned earlier? I want to actually read the damned thing before we go further. I presume that Lucius is the one who found it for you at the ministry," Harry requested calmly. Voldemort silently pulled it from within his robes, duplicated it with a spell and handed over the new copy.

Harry poured over it for the next hour as everyone waited patiently. Eventually he put it aside, met the other man's ruby eyes and calmly said, "No."

"You can't say no. You have no option." Voldemort slammed his hand down on the marriage contract in front of Harry Potter.

"I do. It says in there that it was for my father, signed by his father. According to that contract, it's for James Potter only, no mention of anyone else filling it in on the Potter side. Your grandfather signed it, clearly for the money. It says here you will be taking the Potter name and taking the submissive title. Which explains so much about the conflict between you, my father, and Dumbledore. Dumbledore married him off to Lily before he even knew about that contract," Harry pulled out the marriage agreement between his parents. It was something he had a copy of in his pocket because he was going to try and corner Dumbledore with some hard questions about it before Monday. "Notice, my grandparents didn't sign this but Dumbledore did. He used his power as Chief Warlock and as the Headmaster."

Voldemort snatched the contract up and started to read it. At his first frown, Harry knew what he had just read.

"I see you got to the part about Dumbledore controlling the Potter seats until his heir was old enough to take control." Harry said calmly.

Voldemort looked up at him as he voiced his confusion. "Yes, and it doesn't make any sense. Neither does the part about your father not taking his titles."

"He died before his father, so Dumbledore messed up on that aspect, as I got the titles directly, which prevented him from emptying my vaults," Harry showed him the bank records he had copies of as supporting evidence to go with his parent's contract. "As you can see he tried the very next day to get into my vaults."

"There are a few odd things in here that aren't part of a regular marriage contract. Lucius could read it and tell us exactly what laws he might have used, but I have never heard of limiting a couple to one child. He even has in here when you can be born," Voldemort commented as he looked down at the bank statement before returning to reading the contract. Harry waited and watched the man reread that paragraph, feeling the man's anger building. 

"Can you not do that? He has us connected somehow." Harry rubbed at his suddenly aching forehead.

Voldemort slammed down his anger, not something he was used to doing, but he had agreed to a truce to discuss their situation. A situation he hadn't known existed until Severus mentioned Dumbledore mumbling about how to get rid of a marriage contract. Voldemort had realized that Dumbledore didn't want Harry married to whomever it was for and had Lucius search the Ministry for the Potter marriage contract as Harry had surmised. He was a bit surprised to find one signed by Dumbledore, along with their grandfathers. He flipped to the last page. 

"Harry, we have a bigger issue," Voldemort said slowly, staring at the final page in confusion.

"Noticed the date?" Harry smirked. He had found out about the contract when Ironclaw wrote to him, warning him that Dumbledore was trying to create a marriage contract between him and Ginny Weasley. This was being done at the same time he had been attempting to void a marriage contract for James Potter and Tom Riddle.

"Yes, it's dated a week before my eleventh birthday, before I even knew I was a wizard. Your father wasn't even born yet. I also know from my study of the Potter family history that they were the same age as my grandparents. James was considered a miracle to them," Voldemort said, swallowing bile as he once again fought his rising fury back into submission.

"Which explains why my father was such a jackass," Harry agreed. The shark-like smirk he suddenly gave them had them on edge and wondering how the hell he was placed with the lions rather than the snakes. "Now, from my research we have a few options. We can publish the contracts along with our personal histories, we can call magic to judge the situation and the contracts, or we can find another way to void the damn thing. We can even go after the twinkly eyed bastard together. One thing we need to agree on though is a permanent truce if anything we agree to is going to work. Having a goblin enforced contract is nice and all but it won't save either of us if the spell draw is fast enough or one of us thinks the consequences are worth it for whatever reason."

"We still need those tests that I promised to pay for in any case," Lucius offered up tentatively.

"And a new wardrobe for him," Draco muttered quietly.

"In order to get me a new wardrobe we need to make sure that it won't get destroyed by my oh so caring relatives," Harry answered his classmate in an aggrieved tone. He fought with himself to keep his tone as light as possible but judging by everyone else's expressions he didn't do a very good job of it.

"Severus?" Voldemort prompted questioningly.

"I can only tell you that I would cheerfully murder his relatives to keep him from having to go back," Severus answered, refusing to abuse Harry's trust on the matter. Yes, he had already spilled a few things to Lucius but Harry was there and hadn't pulled him up short. It was only in hindsight once he was no longer riding high on some of the residual transfer magic that he realized he might have over stepped himself.

"Even if we get to the point of penning an actual treaty between the two of us I can't give you Snape back. Not only do I not even know how to start going about doing it he also knows too much about me from the transfer to give him back. I might be talked into loaning him to you for brewing or something that _he_ wants but that's about it. He's mine now," Harry informed them flatly hoping to bring the discussion on to a less flashback inducing track. No one missed the quiet sigh of relief that Severus slowly released in the following silence.

"Can we agree that we are signing something today? Details contingent on what the basic tests show?" Voldemort offered. He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed not to get Severus back but he also couldn't say he was surprised either.

"Draco also insisted that he get checked for control potions and spells in front of the student body," Lucius reminded them quickly.

"That's not a bad idea in any case," Voldemort sighed as he sat back in his chair. "I also want to know about this... connection. You shouldn't have to suffer pain every time I get angry or lose my temper."

"He hasn't actually managed to get away long enough to check his accounts, The paperwork you just went over was sent to him by his manager, Ironclaw," Severus put in carefully. "I suspect that Ironclaw also had a devil of a time actually getting it into Mr. Potter's hands."

"Yes, I think its safe to say we need _something_ in writing before either of us leave today," Harry agreed. He very carefully kicked Snape under the table for telling them about his lack of knowledge on his accounts. The man deftly dodged the foot and sat calmly as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"I will send for the materials. What testing is being done?" the goblin offered, speaking for the first time.

"A Control test, an Inheritance test, a basic Health exam, and a tailor. Draco is right that we need to get you at least a few decent outfits simply for important meetings like this and new school robes so that you aren't wearing rags," Lucius said pointedly. Harry grumbled a bit but didn't argue the point. He had already stated his reasons and he could probably leave them with Snape over the summer if he was forced back with the Dursleys again.

"Lucius? An in-depth health exam would be better. We don't know what his accidental magics might have hidden over the years," Severus suggested pointedly. Harry grumbled again but didn't actually comment knowing the twins would insist if he objected.

"An in-depth health exam then," Voldemort agreed. The goblin nodded and sent off for the proper supplies and people to perform the checks.

"Do you have any objection to doing a combined test Mr. Potter?" the goblin asked politely.

"No," Harry answered, openly curious as to what would happen next and what the difference was. Someone standing outside the room was called in only for everyone to recognize Bill Weasley as he entered the room.

"Do I want to know?" Bill asked warily after scanning the room's occupants.

"Doubtful, incidentally this is confidential young William. I will have no qualms about informing your mother about the time in your second year you attempted to feed your brother to the giant squid, naked, gagged, and trussed up like a turkey. Unless of course you see your way towards remaining silent on our visit to anyone not present or one of your Gringotts superiors," Severus said casually. The twins stared at their brother in shock which quickly morphed into evil glee at the blackmail they now held.

"Yes, Professor!" Bill said quickly, much to the disappointment of his brothers.

"Curse-breaker Weasley is here to demonstrate the test. This serves the double purpose of adding to our records and demonstrating for the customer as we cycle through the untested employees. Curse Breaker Weasley?" the goblin instructed pointedly. This whole time the goblin had been mixing and crushing various unlabeled ingredients, preparing two bowls of the potion for the test. Bill easily added some of his blood to the final concoction and dripped the result over the prepared parchment not expecting anything unexpected to happen.

"Congratulations Curse-breaker Weasley or should I call you Lord Black?" the goblin said looking at the test results parchment twenty minutes later.

Looking at the test results that he snatched from his colleague Bill paled and turned on the twins, snapping out orders. "Go get dad, drag him here if you have too."

The twins hesitated looking between Harry and Voldemort. Bill verbally jerked them out of their indecision with a roar. "Go! Even if Sirius didn't blood adopt him by his grandmother's blood through James Potter he is a Black and thus ours. We need dad here _now!_ I swear to you Harry is under my protection no matter what it may cost me today!"

Reassured the twins bolted even as Severus drew Harry towards him and placed him protectively behind the Potion Master, shielding him from the rest of room.

"This is a surprise," Voldemort commented.

"Indeed, it was expected that either Draco or Mr. Potter was the new Lord Black," Lucius said shakily.

"Kreacher obeyed me at the start of the year so Dumbledore thought I was Sirius' heir," Harry said in more than a little shock.

"If there is some sort of family contingency plan, especially to hide the true Heir, then Kreacher would have obeyed anyone listed as the false heir to protect the true heir," Severus explained carefully. "You were a good candidate as you do have Black Blood from your grandmother and were already heir to the Potter line. It wouldn't have actually taken anything from you if you acted as steward for the House of Black and it solidifies the alliance between the two families. The alliance becomes as strong as if the two main heirs of each house's main branch had married for the next three generations. You would meet the hidden heir as an equal in all ways."

"It would also only work if the Weasley family is a vassal house of the Black Family. Likely ordered to separate as a way to hide the vassal status which only the Lord of the vassal house would be aware of until it was safe, even if it took centuries. Its part of why we need dad," Bill explained heavily, conjuring a seat for himself and flopping into it unceremoniously.

"There is also the fact that if your father is being controlled it still counts as a form of line theft," Severus pointed out calmly. "The order may have come from the Lord Black of the time but unless Arthur was complying out of the vassal magics or his own free will Molly was actively engaged in line theft. It would have been nearly impossible for her to carry any of you to term otherwise. As the Prewitt Lordship follows the twins of the family we will need to test the menaces when they get back."

"That's right, as the surrogate for two men mum's blood would also flow in us making us Blacks, Weasleys, and Prewitts. Damn it. This is going to be a nightmare," Bill groaned.

"Try calling Kreacher," Harry suggested wickedly.

"You're as bad as the twins when you aren't fighting for your life and sanity," Bill complained with amused disgust before complying. "Kreacher!"

Kreacher popped in, took one look at the situation and promptly bowed low to Bill, remaining in the bow until he was given permission to move.

"Told you my Lord Black," Harry said with open laughter.

"Fine, you got me oh steward. Kreacher, get the Black properties in proper order and don't let my mum throw anything else out that isn't actually trash. I will have to review things before anything official can be decided. Dismissed!" Bill ordered. Kreacher obeyed silently, not a word of abuse leaving his mouth.

"I knew there was something more to those blasted insults," Severus muttered balefully. He did allow Harry to retake his seat after that little display but didn't allow the Potter Heir out of his actual reach. All they needed now was Arthur and the twins.


	4. Bank Protocol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, this one contains a few of the requested elements that people asked for, or rather _more_ of them, while trying very hard to move the story forwards. Enjoy!  
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur stumbled into the room as if drunk. The twins shook their heads no in response to Bill's glare, indicating that they weren't the one's at fault for the man's condition. Severus rolled his eyes and hit the man with a modified sobering charm common among Potioneers who had spent a little too much time immersed in potion fumes. The improvement was immediate.

"Thanks you Severus. I got hit with something from a cursed teapot," Arthur explained, breathing deeply of the fresh air in the room.

"Ah, yes, the potions apprentice right of passage. Its a part of the apprenticeship for learning about fumes and air dispersal potions," Severus nodded understandingly.

"Ah... not muggle then?" Arthur said tentatively.

"Hardly," Severus snorted in derision. "Just turn them over to their master unless its a repeat offense near muggles and fine the idiot for carelessness."

"Thanks, that solves a bunch of cases for me," Arthur said in open relief before finally noticing his surroundings.

"Dad, care to explain _this?_ " Bill asked sternly as he shoved the goblin test in reach of his father. Arthur gently picked it up, handling it like a poisonous viper. Reading it he sighed and collapsed from the sudden migraine caused by the relevant memories returning and vomiting up some sort of purple liquid. The liquid was immediately recognized by Severus and hastily vanished as the other redheads tended to their father.

" _Servilem Amorem_ , Slavish Love," Severus spat in disgust. "It was never given a modern name only the Latin one and banned as abhorrent for use except on slaves themselves. A rightful master's command forces the servant or slave to automatically sick it up no matter how long it has been inside the victim. Fortunately it also cleans out their systems completely and makes them forever immune while returning full control and all forgotten or missing memories."

"Then I and my siblings are the result of line theft," Bill concluded tightly as his father recovered and moved to explain.

"We, the Weasleys, are a hidden vassal house of the Black family. I am the current Lord Weasley but at the time we were given the order to preserve the House of Black by any means necessary I was barely a third year. It didn't really kick in fully until after I was married Molly. The potion you saw me sick up was given to me in fourth year by someone I never saw. I remember the scent of lemons and the scent of baking but they obviously came from two separate people," Arthur explained tiredly. "Back to the edict. The edict to protect the blood of the house of Black was given first to my father and Molly stumbled on it somehow. I would have married one of the Black family to protect the line but for some reason I found myself married to Molly. The magic tried to punish me until it ran into something that only set it to seething in my blood. Molly couldn't touch me until she found the edict and swore on her magic that we would fulfill it."

"The test shows that my other father is Regulus Black and mum is listed as the surrogate," Bill agreed with a sigh.

"We all need to get tested," Fred and George said, pale in realization.

"I'll have to take time off to sort this out," Bill groaned. "This is _not_ turning out to be a good day. Gemini, we've talked about swearing to Harry. Until this is sorted you can't swear to him but I also don't want you to quit playing bodyguard if possible. Regardless of blood he's a natural trouble magnet and our little brother."

"What happens if Ron or Ginny or even Percy?..." Fred asked fearfully.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Bill grimaced. "I can promise that the three of you and Charlie are still my brothers regardless. I need to know more to decide anything for Ron, Ginny, Percy, or even mum."

"Wasn't Sirius older?" Harry asked curiously.

While Harry cared about the Weasley family he recognized that there were things involved in what just happened that he didn't understand yet. In fact he may never _want_ to understand it. He also was very firmly reminded of the time he spent at the Burrow when Molly admitted to having snagged Arthur using a love potion. If that purple mess was the potion she had been talking about he wasn't sure he ever wanted to get near her again. For that matter he didn't want his friends, her own children included, near her either.

"The mutt failed the heir test when he tried to kill me and made Regulus heir by default," Severus explained briefly.

"My turn then?" Harry asked with a sigh of resignation. He had decided not to even try touching the so called 5th year prank that nearly killed his favorite potions master.

"Yup," Bill agreed with open amusement.

Harry made a face but repeated what Bill had done for his own test. The parchment was studiously collected by the goblin and allowed to mature. The blank faced look the goblin gave him after examining the results worried Harry, only Snape's gentle touch kept him even remotely calm. The goblin barked something at one of the mediation guards that had him bolting from the room and the other's stiffening to rigid attention.

In an effort to get rid of some of the tension in the room Harry cleared his throat. "So, how are Griphook and Ironclaw doing? I haven't actually _seen_ them in awhile and well, you work here."

"They are doing pretty good. Ironclaw went off on a cursing streak when he found something recently for someone and I overheard him muttering about traitorous wizards but he seemed alright. Griphook still hates teller duty and still likes scaring the crap out of anyone he drives the carts for. So nothing too unusual, cursing streak and someone being an idiot aside," Bill answered nervously.

After what the mediator had snarled at the guard he was perfectly willing to play distraction until someone with a much higher pay scale than him showed up to take responsibility. Whatever the test showed had to be important. The only question was if it was good important or bad important and how he was goind to get his adoptive little brother out of the coming mess intact.

Nearly an hour of small talk passed before the guard returned with more ingredients to perform the test again at least 12 more times. A blond man dressed to the nines in leather with poofy hair looking like a rock star arrived with the guard. What gave the man away to Harry before he even opened his mouth was the pointed ears, marking him as some type of Fae. The man took a deep breath of the air in the room only to freeze at whatever scents he received. His gaze unerringly locked onto Severus' own steady gaze as the room watched him force himself to relax and take a seat at the unoccupied end of the table.

"Mr. Potter we need to perform the test again now that we have appropriate witnesses. I would recommend that you all take it this time," said the mediator goblin with a nervous glance at the blond Fae.

"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously. He might be getting resigned to weird shit happening to him and around him all the time but it didn't stop him from being wary of the potential _causes_ of such things.

"Normally the certification is for your people only. Something... odd came up and we need it certified under our laws as well before releasing the information. Equally normally you would need to under go several extra confirming tests..." the mediator explained carefully only to be interrupted.

"Except the situation interested me and I can certify it all by simply witnessing a repeat of the catch all test," the blond man said in a calm melodious voice. "It also got me away from my paperwork. I swear the blasted stuff has learned how to _breed_."

The way that most everyone chuckled or suppressed their own grins made it clear that they were all familiar with the phenomena. No one begrudged the man his temporary escape from the waves of parchment. Harry obligingly repeated the test and was joined by everyone else in the meeting with Bill quietly insisting to his father and brothers that he would pay for their tests. Bill's test again showed he was Lord Black. The twins' test showed that they were jointly Lord Prewitt with Regulus as their second father and had an alarming number of potions, obviously their own experiments, in their systems. Potion levels so high that they earned pointed glares from Bill, Arthur, and Severus but fond exasperation from Harry. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco came up as expected and Arthur's test showed both the recently purged potion as well as the vassal status.

The tests of Severus, Voldemort, and Harry though were personally double checked by the blond Fae.

"Well isn't this interesting," the Fae said mildly, his gaze piercing as he peruses the three tests in his hands, occasionally glancing up thoughtfully at the subjects of the tests. "I believe we have just found a few missed wished away's as well as the last of my Aunt's line. Only powerful magic could have hidden the three of you from us... something to investigate later."

"Sir?' the mediator asked hesitantly.

The Fae didn't speak. Instead he conjured up a crystal, reached over, and slammed it into Voldemort's chest, creating an explosion of magical glitter and forcing the Dark Lord to gasp in shocked reflex. The whimper of pain the ruby eyed man gave off was echoed by Harry as he clutched at his scar, forcing Severus to frantically try to tend to his charge. The magic of the crystal not only forced Voldemort into a more human form closely resembling an older version of Tom Riddle. It also summoned several dark wraith things and forced them inside Voldemort until five had entered him. Harry collapsed into Severus, bleeding from his scar even as a solid thunk from the table had them all looking over to see the Gaunt Heir ring appearing only to clatter to the table. The ring glowed purple briefly before loosing the glow to glitter at them all with a mixture of menace and predatory intent.

"That _hurt_ ," Harry broke the ensuing silence with a grimace. "But it didn't hurt as bad as when Voldy is angry and starts tossing crucios that I can feel through our weird link."

"Nagini is dead and her familiar bond seems to have transferred to you, Potter," the newly handsome Voldemort pointed out with a tired grimace as he slumped down into his chair.

"Did it change that stupid contract you found?" Harry asked in pained humor.

"No, proving your earlier argument," Voldemort agreed, taking a quick look at the disputed paperwork.

"What did you just do?!" Severus hissed at the Fae in barely controlled fury.

"I repaired some of the damage the idiot did to himself. Your welcome home gift if you will, cousin. The others are free to leave but the three of you will need to remain longer to clear up your various status. We also need to award the young idiot you are acting so protective over something for his victory over the 1000+ year old Basilisk. I'm not entirely sure _where_ he found a 1000+ year old Basilisk but the magic shows he did and defeated it in open honorable combat. We also need to confirm his adult warrior status as a member of the Gringotts clan for passing the Dragon Adulthood test. A test that hasn't been passed in over 500 years. I also recommend getting rid of that magical tattoo but I don't think you can without being released from the loyalty oath. We haven't known each other long enough for you to trust me to pick it apart safely so the next best thing was to correct the holder's sanity," the blond Fae shrugged. It wasn't the first time he had magically powered through a complicated interpersonal problem and it wouldn't be the last.

"Cousin or not Snape is mine now or the weird messenger gift magic wouldn't have kicked in," Harry pointed out cautiously.

"Yes, I did notice that and as long as you don't kill him or otherwise do him real harm I won't interfere. He will out live you in any case and his family training can start then. Also neither of you are still considered a child by Fae law but you are considered extremely young and inexperienced. When you slew the basilisk you became eligible for a warrior's apprenticeship or most other apprenticeships under Fae and goblin law. When you _out flew_ the nesting mother dragon in a deadly contest which others forced you to participate in you passed the aerial variation of the Dragon Adulthood test, marking you as an adult. Severus received his adulthood certification along with his dual Defense and Potion Mastery," the Fae explained mischievously.

"Fuck my life!" Harry groaned before smacking his head on the table in exasperation.

"But Harrykins! We thought you ever so wanted to have Professor Snape!" Fred exclaimed in mock despair.

"Don't you _like_ him enough to deal with your luck kicking in?" George asked with a mock pout setting the both of them off in laughter. Harry's arguments with the man were legendary at Hogwarts as were the points lost and unending detentions.

"Fred? George? Unless you _want_ to face the pranking legacy I got from the Marauders with the _two of you_ as the targets you'll shut the bloody fuck up!" Harry snarled into the table, not bothering to lift his head. He completely failed to quell the twins but still managed to end further insinuations.

"Who are you anyway?" Draco asked the blond Fae warily.

"Me? My name is Jareth and I'm the King of the Goblins young Mister Malfoy," Jareth informed him with a shark-like grin. Hearing this Harry just bounced his head on the table a couple of times and started muttering about how he just had to be cursed with the way his luck worked.


	5. Test Results

"Is Harry under some sort of Luck curse sire?" Bill asked bluntly into the sudden silence of the room. Since Neither Harry's test nor that of Severus or Voldemort had yet been handed over to be looked at by the rest of them it was a valid question.

"Yes, and quite frankly with his most recent results I'm inclined to leave it. We've been searching for my aunt and her descendants for more than 300 years. I will concede that he should probably receive a certain amount of training to limit the risk of being killed but it seems oddly focused on keeping him alive. Normally this particular curse is targeted to kill the victim sooner or later. Mr. Potter's variation seems to be set on keeping him alive and revealing things to him. Things that range from the wondrous to the dangerous to the simply problematic. The ones that would pose a danger or a problem to others it seems to help him solve them while keeping him alive, changing him to do it as needed. I have no idea how or why the focus of the old Chinese curse shifted but it did. I pity anyone who it sees as a threat to Mr. Potter," Jareth told them sympathetically. "It also wouldn't surprise me if the curse would fight viciously to _stay_ with young Potter or find a way to extend his life span. Depending on how things develop within the next 50 or 60 years he will be joining my cousin in his training as a member of the Fae Courts."

"Please tell me its not called _may you live in interesting times_?" Harry half begged half joked, his voice partly muffled by the table.

"I see you've heard of it," Jareth said neutrally. Harry just groaned again and started plotting the gruesome death of whoever gave him the blasted curse in the first place.

"Well that certainly explains why I never really got close to killing him even when I attempted it in earnest," Voldemort sighed, forcing himself back into a properly seated position with a grimace.

"Frankly, according to this general test he should be dead a dozen times over. The reasons range from the abuse to the early untrained combat to starvation to the poison that his body somehow turned into a nutrient source instead of letting it kill him. Its almost as if he were a royal of some sort and had to face a pissed off Fae Court without the customary protections. His survival could be seen as utterly terrifying. The same goes for the shear number of assaults in various forms," Jareth sighed tiredly. "Its ironic but giving my cousin to him was one of the absolutely best things you could have done."

"Moving on, what else is on the tests?" Harry asked pointedly, returning to an upright position and firmly cutting off _that_ line of speculation.

"Not much," Jareth hummed, turning his attention back to the tests. "Severus, as part of the Prince line, is descended from my Aunt but its been several generations and he will need further exposure to Fae magics to wake his Fae blood properly. Your Dark Lord, born Tom Marvolo Riddle, is descended from the Slytherin Line on his mother's side and a Veela on his father's side. The Veela is diluted enough that he barely gets anything from the blood line, a little extra charm, his original looks, a resistance to various forms of compulsions, but it is there. He is also descended from the second Peverell son in that blasted Hallows story through his mother, which is where the ring on the table came from. You, Mr. Potter, on the other hand are descended of both Gryffindor and Peverell, the third son in the story, through your father and an Undine several generations back through your mother. The Parseltongue comes from both your link with the Dark Lord and the Peverell blood while in the Dark Lord it comes from the Peverell and Slytherin lines. The Heir battle the two of you had confirmed you as worthy to be his Heir but too young to claim the Lordship. This is part of why he survived that night as a wraith, aside from his own precautions, and you were marked with that scar. The magics needed a second confirmation that you were his Heir for some reason and took the events the night your parents died as the proof they needed. I wouldn't recommend continuing to try and kill each other least those same magics loose patience and force the situation to change. Combined with your luck curse that particular outcome could drag more than the two of you into the mix."

"Lily didn't have Undine blood," Severus frowned. They all politely ignored the way Voldemort snatched up the ring and slipped it into his robes. Jareth's words had already confirmed his ownership so they didn't have the right to comment on his quick retrieval of the family heirloom.

"Yes, she did. She also likely had a bit of a cruel streak from it mixing with the human blood even if it didn't often show. The alternative is that the Lily Evans you knew was not the Lily Evans that birthed Mr. Potter. Not impossible but highly unlikely," Jareth said pointedly. "The natural air affinity and flight talent came from his father, originally a part of the Peverell line. Something mirrored in your Dark Lord though his affinity might be stronger. You received your own natural flight affinity from my Aunt, your ancestor. I dare say if the three of you tried to learn you could teach yourselves to fly completely unassisted but for your own magic."

"That would be nice," Harry said wistfully, thinking of how much he would enjoy flying without anything but his magic and the air currents buffeting him playfully on a gorgeous day.

"At this point I think its safe to say that not only don't I plan to continue trying to kill him but that Harry also has my protection. I will arrange for tutors, healers, and anything else my heir might need," Voldemort said wearily. "What a mess."

"And with Dumbledore the only really common point too," Harry pointed out seriously, coming out of his flying daydream rather abruptly.

"Conniving old bastard," Voldemort grumbled in agreement. His newly handsome features were adorable in their sulky pout.

"Its getting close to midnight. We should probably all get rooms at the Leaky or something," Bill pointed out tiredly.

"My earlier statement stands," Jareth told them as his smile's sharp edges sharpened abruptly even further towards purely predatory. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Riddle, and Master Snape will remain until their status is clarified, which includes verifying their health. As all of the rest of you are confirmed powerful wizarding families you may request rooms near them on the grounds... for a price."

"And the other Hogwarts students?" Harry asked with a barely concealed hard edge and a glint of steel in his eyes. The brief glance of quickly concealed concern aimed at Snape told Jareth much, adding an extra dimension to the question.

"Will be escorted safely back to the school by Gringotts employees with shiny new tests, of which copies are also sent to your ministry and kept in our archives," Jareth responded chuckling evilly. He hadn't realized until now that the protectiveness went both ways between this young wizard and his equally young cousin. The potential that Harry had just shown to viciously protect those he saw as his was a bonus as far as the Goblin King was concerned. It would serve his cousin well if the two of them ever became bound together more formally or more permanently.

Arrangements for temporary room and board were made with the goblins by everyone else while Harry, Severus, and Voldemort were escorted to what they quickly realized was a Hospital wing. Before they could even think about trying to escape Jareth hit them with a trio of crystals from behind, sending them quickly to sleep. The nearby healers caught the trio as they fell, moving them into nearby beds carefully and efficiently.

"Their health isn't the best and we need them as healthy as we can get for the moment. Try to keep them asleep while you treat them, at least until morning. Potions Master Snape has a mostly dormant High Fae heritage that we might need to wake up at some point and Mr. Potter holds a piece of Mr. Riddle's soul. _Don't_ mess with that connection and note down anything that may be involved with it. Incidentally, Riddle has or should have diluted Veela blood and Potter most certainly has Undine blood. See about repairing Potter's eye sight and the long term abuse damage on all three of them. I doubt you'll need to do much on the abuse front physically with Riddle since he arranged to reconstruct his entire body at some point in the last five years. If they need long term treatment for anything make a note and work up a treatment plan for them to follow. Presume they will be leaving in the morning and provide both an optimal treatment plan as well as one they can pursue on their own. Make sure to note if anything will need specialized care and what the treatment and/or specialist would be best for dealing with it. I want them as fit as possible by morning," Jareth ordered only to be met with murmurs of respectful acknowledgement.

The Goblin King turned on his heel with a mischievous smirk and left. Healing them, or at least handing them a healing plan, would give his cousin a chance to interact with Potter safely. It would also tell him what damage he would need to investigate and potentially seek vengeance over in regards to his cousin. As a bonus it would allow him to know what damage to hold _Potter_ responsible for in the future.


	6. Morning Medicine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!  
> I may not post again until after New Years.  
> Enjoy!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry woke to a splitting headache and the scent of hospital charms in his nose matched by the taste of Potions on his lips. As much as he hated the fact he was in the school hospital wing so often it allowed him to know immediately that while he wasn't at Hogwarts he _was_ in a well kept, well stocked hospital area. The muttered curses (which made no mention of Potters), on the other hand, told him that Snape was nearby and also stuck in a bed.

"Severus, enough," came the tired but quiet voice which no longer had snake speech edging it.

"What were we hit with?" Harry asked with a yawn as he forced himself upright in his own hospital bed. He opened bleary eyes and squinted. The pouncing of a nearby healer dropping something that quickly burned in his eyes while pinning him to the bed made him struggle and cry out. This lasted a few minutes before a barely whispered word in a liquid language not human ended the burning sensation and Harry went limp, breathing hard.

"Do that again and we will have to try to kill you," warned the Dark Lord's voice angrily.

"Without his defenses being down but him needing to be awake to repair the damage to his eyes we didn't exactly have much choice," the liquid voice said testily from above Harry. "The only reason we could even use such a powerful Fae medicine was that he is connected to the two of you and has a massive amount of damage from years of mistreatment. Usually the Juice of the Moonflower is only used on High Fae who are near death, maimed, or who have a permanently crippling injury. The amount of restrictive bonds we had to strip from him during the night was ridiculous! Its amazing he wasn't already dead from them. He is still going to need proper treatment for correcting the periods of starvation he went through. The Moonflower Juice _should_ make the healing more effective and possibly easier. There are even signs that he isn't eating enough when he has access to plenty of food, something that _must_ change."

"Careful!" a second liquid voice warned. "His bones aren't healthy enough for too much pressure and with the strain on his magic not to mention the pathway scars we shouldn't try to heal his bones if they break like this."

Swearing the first voice backed away, matching the removal of whoever was holding him down and easing the pressure on what Harry knew were going to be bruises. He didn't bother opening his still watery eyes.

"Any further treatment?" Snape's voice asked testily.

"We made up treatment plans on the order of his majesty. Normally, we would have spread out your treatments over a couple of months but our orders were to fix as much as possible before you walked out of here this morning. The links between you three were ordered left alone. As a healer I do recommend that the tattoo and the accompanied magics get dissolved, it overly complicates your situation and may cause future problems," the first voice instructed tartly. "I do however recognize that the other bonds may be more helpful left alone and likely problematic to remove or mitigate. I am also not an expert in those particular magics for all my skill at healing."

"The Moonflower Juice should heal the scaring on his magical pathways and in his lungs over time. However, he will need a large number of nutrients and calories for months to come to get into a safe place health wise. His external scars will benefit from normal scar treatment but can't be addressed until he is at a more healthy weight. The two of you were mostly fine physically even with the dehydration in one of you. The nerve damage along with lack of weight on the other matched with old signs of abuse was harder to fix but the extra power from the Moonflower juice should help. We had to re-break a few things and the scars on your back have been further reduced. You need more food regularly and more sleep," the second voice explained.

"I'll make sure he gets it," Harry promised roughly, eyes still shut.

" _You_ will get yourself into a less dangerous health before even considering addressing his, in comparison, more minor problems. That is presuming he doesn't do it himself in the mean time," the first voice said sternly. "Of the three of you, you are the most likely to simply drop dead due to how much shear _damage_ you have. If anything they should be taking care of you rather than the other way around health wise."

"I wonder if de-aging Potion Master Snape a touch wouldn't help strengthen him a bit," the second healer hmmed thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking of?" the first healer asked suspiciously. "We can't apply it to Mr. Potter with his history so testing anything like that on Master Snape is completely unnecessary presuming it would even be ethical in the first place."

"Actually, I was thinking it would reactivate his natural healing the way a child heals compared to an adult. Nothing nefarious, just a little natural boost that would also eliminate his occupational aches and pains until his normal occupational habits re-acquired them. Early twenties maybe? I doubt we could talk him into going as far as 17 or 18. So a decade or so off his current age? Maybe a decade and a half?" the second healer mused.

"He _has_ lived a hard life," Voldemort admitted in a tone of thoughtful contemplation.

"Why exactly would I want to look like one of my own students?" Severus growled. Harry's eyes were still closed, instinctively preserving the potion that was originally dropped in his eyes and allowing it to work better without interference.

"And how, exactly, are you planning on racing after Potter the next time he gets himself into unspeakable danger if you can't even keep up with him?" Voldemort asked tartly. "If you are physically closer to his age then you are far more likely to be able catch him _before_ he launches himself head first into lava or a sea of magical flames or some such."

"I refuse to follow him around like a duckling or to allow my students to think I am in any way _nice_ ," Severus protested, grumpily acknowledging the logic of the treatment in his own mind. The mental image his words created made Harry snicker quietly from his own bed.

While Severus received his youthening treatment Harry found himself facing down three house elves after carefully opening his eyes.

"Master needs bonding properly with Winky and Kreacher. Dobby has already talked to the trapped Potter elvsies. Theys being fine and are happy to keep tricking bad wizards pretending to be masters now that theys knowing Master has help. Calling all elvsies will bring them ifin Master is needing help," Dobby explained. He firmly placed the two other elves in front of Harry like naughty children.

Harry's magic danced happily from him towards the two elves without waiting for permission, bonding to them almost immediately. The horrified and concerned looks that Harry received told him when they had gotten his memories, making him blush in embarrassment and shame. The amount of blackmail versus the dangerous information in his memories hadn't really registered when Snape had gotten his copy of Harry's memories.

The elves quickly disappeared as the distraction caused by Severus' treatment died down, giving Harry his first real look at the man's new form. Harry swallowed _hard_. He knew he didn't have a chance at snagging the man for himself but he desperately wanted the potions master and his new looks made it _extremely_ hard not to simply pounce on him. He also wanted to shield Severus from everyone else's eyes in the room while declaring _"Mine!"_ possessively and glaring at everyone to back off. His crush was once again raging out of control and this time he wasn't sure he wanted to reign it in.

"Breakfast?" Severus' smooth rich voice asked archly.

Harry bit back a quiet whimper as the Healers agreed, walking them through further treatment and handing over the treatment plans to each of them. He stared at the pile of medical parchments dumbly until Voldemort tisked and duplicated them for the other two to have a copy as well. Face burning in embarrassment Harry got dressed and followed the others to the breakfast meeting room, hoping the ground would swallow him whole.


	7. Breakfast Awards

Severus was very aware of Harry's blushing form trotting along behind them, attempting to hide his embarrassment. He knew the imp wanted him if from nothing else than Harry's own memories. He also knew Harry wouldn't disrespect him by trying to court him without some indication of mutual interest, something that Severus had yet to display. He was also aware of the fantasies that the other wizard had been having about him for months thanks to the memory transfer. So far he had kept their association on a mostly professional level but he wasn't certain he wanted it to _stay_ there.

The memory dump when he had entered Potter's service had forcibly changed how he viewed the younger man and he was glad for it. Severus could no longer fool himself into thinking that he was in any way dealing with a younger copy of James Potter. Of course he hadn't ever been able to hold the illusion for overly long before the memory dump but when he could it had been a good extra layer of defense for Harry. Now he was faced with forcing the distant personality he had used as a shield among the teaching staff to become his true personality or trying to make a relationship with his newest young master work.

Severus smirked to himself. If he had his way their unexpected bonding would shift to a marriage bond and the luck curse that Potter carried would adjust to his future husband accordingly. It might even wake his own Fae blood when the curse matched them up. Now that he knew his green-eyed imp was in his reach as a life partner and receptive to his advances, welcoming even, he had no intention of letting Harry escape. After all Severus' own Fae blood explained many things and opened even more doors but it also carried a high level of possessiveness. Before all was said and done Severus was determined that his future husband would already be irrevocably his. Let the games begin!

The group entered the conference room set up as a breakfast area and Severus discretely looked towards Harry, making sure to stalk to his seat with an extra flare of his robes. The loud gulp that came from his young master spurred a smug evil smirk to dance along his own lips, a smirk that was quickly hidden. Even so the twins caught it and immediately made the connection. Their poleaxed expressions were mostly ignored or missed by everyone else.

Breakfast was quickly served after everyone was seated and Severus' watchful glare was obviously the only thing keeping the twins from pranking everyone at the table. Harry's sudden increased interest in eating a goodly portion of food also didn't go unnoticed by anyone who had ever shared a meal with him.

"You choose _now_ to eat like a ravenous teen?! Are you trying to choke on your food?" Severus snarked playfully. Harry completely ignored him and focused on enjoying his food which, for once, wasn't making him feel slightly ill.

"If he's eating we want him to continue. Mum tried feeding him up but Ron usually ate anything Harry didn't," Bill explained pointedly.

"Did you hear me tell him to stop? I merely want him to slow down so that he isn't risking choking. I know perfectly well that his current appetite is a good thing, especially with how underweight the healers told us he is. He's clearly not feeling sick so I'm inclined to make him have an equally large lunch," Severus retorted.

Severus couldn't and wouldn't deny that seeing Harry devouring food so carefully but devouring it all the same sent a curl of satisfaction through his gut. The thought of Harry being starved, of any child being starved, made him feel sick and reminded him of the too often pain of hunger from his own first youth. Of course his young master wasn't a child anymore if he ever really was one with how _Petunia_ and her oaf of a husband had treated Harry to say nothing of their son. The eyes of the youthened Potions Master met those of the Dark Lord as they shared the complex sentiment. Worry over Harry's health, satisfaction at seeing him eat a second plate full of food, anger at the Dursleys, and protectiveness aimed at Harry.

"Slow down. Severus is right, we don't want you choking. There is more than enough food for everyone. It isn't as if we are going to take it away from you," Voldemort scolded. The violent flinch Harry gave at the mention of taking his food had them all narrowing their eyes. He in turn forced himself to slow down how fast he was eating, proving he was actually listening.

"We didn't even prank it!" George cracked even as his eyes and those of his twin watched Harry with protective care.

"So what title are you giving to Potter?" Draco asked curiously as he stirred his scrambled eggs about on his plate, not really hungry for some reason. The glare Harry sent at the blond as he continued to eat his own food told them all he had hoped the subject had been forgotten.

"Have no fear Draco, he will hate it whatever it is. The question is will he eventually resign himself to it, hate it less than his Boy-Who-Lived and Savior titles, or hate it more than his current titles. It will take some time for it to sink in that they weren't given wrongly or frivolously like his other ones, that he _earned_ them on his own merit. Eventually, he will understand that they are something he should be proud of," Severus smirked at his godson, making Harry both mildly indignant and rather uncomfortable.

"And you will be teaching him cousin?" Jareth drawled, his smirk matching the dour Potion Master's easily.

"Possibly," Severus conceded. He gave Harry a smouldering _look_ that had his target wondering if he should be running for the hills or begging to be kidnapped by the man. It didn't matter to Harry in the least that he was supposedly the master rather than Severus even as he was unable to stop the deep blush that stained his cheeks.

"Kreacher, I noticed you bonded with Harry," Bill commented, deciding to rescue Harry from his embarrassment.

"My Lord Black?" Kreacher asked uncertainly. Dobby hadn't given him much choice at the time and it would help throw off any suspicion from Bill until he came out in the open as Lord Black. He, Dobby, and Winky had argued the Gringotts house elves into letting them serve breakfast to this group.

"No, you did nothing wrong. I recognize Harry as a member of the House of Black for all that he is to be Lord of at least one other family. The status of two of my younger brothers, my sister, and my mother is debatable leading me the believe that I may need to remain hidden for several more years. I will discuss any bonding changes that may need to be made with Harry and yourself when the time comes. For now Harry will continue to act at least in part as Steward of the House of Black. Charlie and these twin menaces are also acknowledged as members of the House of Black even as I acknowledge my Father's vassal status. You may answer calls from any of them but try to be discrete," Bill instructed firmly.

"Winky, Dobby, you have the same instructions as Bill just gave Kreacher. I don't know that we can trust Ron, Ginny, Percy, Mrs. Weasely, Hermione, or even Dumbledore so you don't have permission to obey those six unless its to save one of the rest of us or Severus. If you get caught you can either play up the freed elf card or you can say I asked for you to help them or gave permission, whatever is appropriate. The stupid luck curse I have may... change things _rapidly_. So be aware of possible complications and what might be needed in an emergency," Harry instructed the elves. The silent approval from most everyone else told him he'd done the right thing.

"In answer to your question young Malfoy he has been granted the title Emerald Mage, bearer of the Winged Heart. The title Emerald Mage is in respect to slaying the basilisk, recognizing you as a warrior but also acknowledging your wizarding heritage. The Winged Heart award is in reference to out flying the dragon and passing the aerial dragon adulthood test. Both convey goblin friend status and indicate the right to take a goblin apprenticeship in any field under a qualified master," Jareth explained.

Breakfast finished with peaceful small talk after that.


End file.
